Volksbank under the stars in Austria

By Susan Westemeyer

Team Volksbank cycling stars will be sleeping under the heavenly counterparts this week in the Austrian Alps, as the professional continental team has invited its 14 riders to a "Team Building" camp, to be led by former Karate world champion Daniel Devigili.

The meeting will concentrate on the usual aspects of meeting the new riders, solving conflicts and building motivation, togetherness and trust. In addition, the riders' racing schedules for the coming season will be set.

To achieve the "togetherness" goals, mobile telephones will not be allowed, and the riders will sleep in tents on the mountainside. Team Manager Thomas Kofler said, "The important thing for me is that our riders have contact with each other before our first training camp in Italy, and now that they can absolutely trust each other in times of difficulty. Survival training brings people together. There's no better way of using the off-season."